By Billy Gomila

Contributing Writer

LUTCHER – The Lutcher Bulldogs survived a strong comeback by Thibodaux to pick up a 20-14 win last Friday, their first of the 2005 season.

Thibodaux scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to cut into Lutcher’s lead. After stopping a Bulldog drive Thibodaux moved the ball to Lutcher’s 46 with 30 seconds left on the clock. But on fourth and five, Jyron White sacked Thibodaux’s Zach Chauvin to seal the win for Lutcher.

“It’s always nice when you win one you weren’t supposed to,” said Bulldog head coach Tim Detillier. “We should have lost this one, but our boys played hard. It’s about time we were on the plus side of one of these.”

But it was mistakes by the Tigers that gave Lutcher its early lead, with a pair of muffed punts and 85 yards in penalties. The first muff led to a 25-yard field goal by Lutcher’s Terrence Jeffrey.

Thibodaux punted again after its next possession, and a personal foul penalty tacked on 15-yard to Lutcher’s return and helped them drive to the four-yard line. On fourth down Rashad Webster tossed a halfback pass to Juan Johnson, and Jeffrey’s extra point stretched the Bulldogs’ lead to 10-0 with 8:16 left in the first half.

On the next drive Wayne Albert, who led Lutcher with 108 yards on 17 carries, scored the game’s second touchdown on a 35-yard screen pass. Lutcher’s final points came early in the third quarter on a 28-yard field goal by Jeffrey.

In the final period, Thibodaux heated up. The Tigers stopped Lutcher on downs on the Thibodaux 20 with 7:13 left and drove for a score in eight plays, with Chauvin hitting Demetrius McCoy for a touchdown from 25-yards out. Chauvin’s two-point conversion run made it a 20-8 ballgame with 4:35 left.

Thibodaux’s defense stood up again, forcing a Lutcher three-and-out and getting the ball back to their offense on their own 29. Two plays later Chauvin hit McCoy, who squirted from a defender’s grasp and raced 71 yards for a touchdown. The conversion failed.

Lutcher’s offense again sputtered, with Albert gaining only one yard followed by back-to-back fumbled snaps that were recovered, leading to another punt. Starting at its 30, Thibodaux moved the ball into Lutcher territory before the Bulldog defense found a way to hang on.

“They made those two big plays, that were really just good plays on their part,” said Detillier. “Hey, when it’s Lutcher-Thibodaux, you can’t leave early.”

The Hurricane Katrina disaster has drastically affected the Bulldogs schedule, as the majority of district 10-3A is based in areas currently uninhabitable due to the storm. But Detillier is doing his best to gather together a schedule in hopes that enough power points will give the Bulldogs decent position for the playoffs.

“We just have to get enough games scheduled,” said the coach, who says his team’s schedule is still in a state of flux. “If we can build up enough power points, we should be in.”